New Dashboard Highlighting Healthy Ride at Pitt Utilization
We’re excited to unveil our newest interactive Sustainability Dashboard, focused on University of Pittsburgh student and employee utilization of Pittsburgh’s Healthy Ride bike share system.
Developed over the past year by undergraduate Aaron Carr and with Pitt Business & Auxiliary Services, the interactive dashboard allows you to view when, where, and how many individuals have taken advantage of Pitt’s unlimited 30-minute bike share offering since Fall 2019.
MCSI Taps David Sanchez as Associate Director
Pitt’s Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation Taps David Sanchez as New Associate Director; Assistant Professor Patrick Shirey Joins as Leonard Peters Faculty Fellow.
When the Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation (MCSI) was established in 2003, its co-founders – Distinguished Service Professor Eric Beckman and alumnus John C. “Jack” Mascaro – believed that encouraging innovation and global engagement would secure the advancement of sustainability at the University of Pittsburgh.
Pitt Theatre Production ‘Somewhere’ on Climate Collapse & Butterflies Was Also Sustainably Produced
Pitt Theatre’s newest production is sustainable in topic and production
The key to using recycled materials in theater is to “take what you’ve got, make it work and make it pretty,” Ricky Lyle Campbell said. Campbell, the Department of Theatre Arts costume manager, and his students constructed almost 200 butterflies out of discarded plastic cups and bottles. He affectionately refers to his classroom as the “butterfly factory.”
Pitt’s Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation Names Dr. Melissa Bilec New Co-Director
Dr. Melissa Bilec named new Co-Director of Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation
2020 Real College Survey Results on Student Basic Needs
43% of Pitt students experienced at least one form of basic needs insecurity in the 12 months prior to Fall 2020. While only 7% of students who experienced basic needs insecurity used emergency aid, another 47% of students had not even heard of the emergency aid programs available at Pitt.
To better understand how Pitt can serve vulnerable students, the Campus Basic Needs Committee was formed in 2020 with a cross-departmental team of faculty, student, and staff representatives.
2020 Real College Survey Results on Student Basic Needs
43% of Pitt students experienced at least one form of basic needs insecurity in the 12 months prior to Fall 2020. While only 7% of students who experienced basic needs insecurity used emergency aid, another 47% of students had not even heard of the emergency aid programs available at Pitt.
To better understand how Pitt can serve vulnerable students, the Campus Basic Needs Committee was formed in 2020 with a cross-departmental team of faculty, student, and staff representatives.
Pitt Celebrates Over 1 Million Square Feet of Certified Green Buildings
In early 2021, Pitt celebrated 15 LEED-certified spaces, topping 1.2 million square feet of certified green buildings, with more than more in the works.
In February 2021, Pitt added its 15th Leadership in Energy and Environment Design (LEED) certification for the renovation of the Graduate School of Public Health (GSPH), which earned LEED Silver. As part of the two-phase project, the GSPH Addition became LEED Certified in 2018.
New Pittsburgh Collaboratory for Water Research finds Benefits to Water Fluoridation
The Pittsburgh Collaboratory for Water has recently taken a deeper look into fluoridation of community water systems in Pennsylvania through evaluation of already established scientific literature and conducting their own research. In their document “In the Fight Against Tooth Decay: May the Fluoride Be With You!”, they set out to determine how and why fluoride is added to drinking water and other sources of fluoride.
2021 Momentum Grant for Transcending Disciplines to Advance Regional Water Equity
The Pittsburgh Collaboratory for Water’s partnered “Transcending Disciplines to Advance Regional Water Equity” project received 2021 Pitt Momentum Funds Teaming Grant.
* Jackie Smith (Sociology),
* Noble Maseru (Health Sciences),
* Marcela González Rivas (GSPIA),
* Caitlin Schroering (Sociology), and
* Collaboratory Leadership team (Emily Elliott, Daniel Bain, Eitan Shelef, Eric Perry, and Megan Guy)
New Dashboards for Building Energy & Water Use Intensity (2014 – 2019)
We are proud to unveil 2 new interactive Sustainability Dashboards focused on building energy and water usage intensity! Developed over a 2-year period, the interactive dashboards allow you to view results at both building and Pittsburgh campus scales, while simultaneously selecting variable time frames through which to review data and results.
Produced in partnership with Pitt Facilities Management and IT, the 2 building-centric dashboards showcase campus-wide and individual building energy and water performance from 2014 through 2019.
Pitt Student Project Places Second in EPA’s 9th Annual Campus RainWorks Challenge
A cross-disciplinary group of Pitt undergraduate students won 2nd in the U.S. EPA’s RainWorks Challenge, Master Plan Category.
A Pitt student group project earned second place in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) ninth annual Campus RainWorks Challenge. The Campus RainWorks Challenge is a national competition engaging college students in the design of on-campus green infrastructure solutions to address stormwater pollution, which is a complex across the country, but especially in the region, due to local combined sewer overflow issues.
2021 Sustainability Champions
Congratulations to our 25 Pitt Sustainability Champions for 2021!
In recognition of their leadership and commitment to Pitt Sustainability, 25 members of the University community have been selected as 2021 Pitt Sustainability Champions.
We would like to celebrate these students, faculty, and staff members for their tremendous support of Pitt Sustainability’s efforts across campus, in Pittsburgh, and in the world over the past year or more.
Read on to hear why each person was nominated as a Sustainability Champion!
Pitt Sustainability Efforts Recognized as AASHE STARS Gold
The University of Pittsburgh has achieved AASHE STARS Gold for the first time!
Three years after achieving its first-ever Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education’s Sustainability Tracking, Assessment, and Rating System (AASHE STARS) rating (Silver), Pitt is proud to again be recognized for its sustainability accomplishments over the last three years with an AASHE STARS Gold rating (valid through 2024).
Dr. David Sanchez, 2021 Soska Wilds Outreach and Engagement Leadership Awardee
The 2021 Soska Wilds Outreach and Engagement Leadership awardee is David Sanchez.
Dr. David Sanchez, 2021 Soska Wilds Outreach and Engagement Leadership Awardee
The 2021 Soska Wilds Outreach and Engagement Leadership awardee is David Sanchez.